YOUNG STARS SIGNED ON TO ‘CREATURES’ AFTER SEEING IT WAS NO ‘TWILIGHT’ CLONE

In the midst of their press tour, “Beautiful Creatures” stars Alden Ehrenreich (“Tetro”) and Alice Englert (“Ginger & Rosa”) are certain of one thing: Their supernatural romance, based on a best-selling series of young adult novels by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, is not a carbon copy of “Twilight.”

They understand the instinct to think so, considering the film arrives on the heels of the wildly successful “Twilight” series, leaving a gaping hole in the ravenous young adult movie market. In fact, Englert and Ehrenreich are guilty of making the same assumption themselves, which initially led both of the young actors to turn down the roles of Ethan, a literary-minded charmer who’s champing at the bit to bolt from his sleepy town of Gatlin, S.C., and Lena, a moody teenage girl who arouses suspicion when she moves to town and displays her uncanny ability to alter the weather when she’s angry. Ethan and Lena’s intense and immediate connection leads to a forbidden romance between mortal and supernatural being or, in Lena’s case, a “Caster.” Swap genders and powers and it sure does sound very “Twilight”-esque.

“We got the brief that it was a supernatural love story and, without reading the script, it did sound a little like a remake of a genre that was already being pretty well made,” said Englert, who read only the first “Twilight” book in her early teens, of her initial decision to turn down the part of Lena.

Ehrenreich, who’s yet to read a word of the Stephenie Meyer series, initially agreed. “It didn’t sound like it had its own DNA, its own identity.”

But Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (“The Fisher King,” “P.S. I Love You”), who’s had plenty of experience adapting beloved books like “The Horse Whisperer” and “The Bridges of Madison County,” was only encouraged by their refusals.

“Richard loved that. He wanted people who were reluctant to do this kind of movie,” said Ehrenreich. Once LaGravenese got his script in their hands, the actors began to change their tune.

“Richard created these really idiosyncratic characters with real points of view and lots of dimension.” Ehrenreich said. “Even though it’s a supernatural story, it’s really rooted in this very human element.”

Englert quickly interjected: “Credit to Richard for writing it like that. So many of these stories are just exposition to get through the plot … but Richard did such a great job with actually being able to languish in scenes.”

The film stresses the importance of seizing control of your destiny and choosing your own fate, something every young adult is bound to face. Ehrenreich, 23, and Englert, 19, are no exception. Both are in the early stages of their careers, finding that tricky balance between satisfying their creative ambitions, including writing and directing, and staying steadily employed. With LaGravenese at the helm of “Beautiful Creatures,” they seem to think they’ve found that balance.

Perhaps they’re savvier than most of their contemporaries. A Los Angeles native, Ehrenreich considers himself a “film geek” who’s been writing, directing and performing since middle school. When director Steven Spielberg saw one of his amateur film performances at a friend’s bar mitzvah, he asked for a meeting, which led to some TV roles and ultimately a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s 2009 film “Tetro.”